The Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonovthreatened to destroy the M1 Abrams tanksas well as other military equipment from the countries of the NATOif they decide to send them to the Ukraine to defend themselves against the Kremlin forces.
“There is no doubt that if the decision is made to transfer M1 Abrams to kyiv, our military will destroy American tanks in the same way as all other samples of NATO equipment are destroyed”, Antonov threatened, assuring that Washington is “deliberately” trying to inflict a strategic defeat to Russia.
He added that a possible shipment of tanks to Ukraine would be “another flagrant provocation against Russia”. “If the United States decides to supply tanks, then justify such a step with arguments about defensive weapons it definitely won’t work. This would be another blatant provocation against Russia,” the ambassador warned.
“An analysis of the entire sequence of actions by Washington shows that the americans are constantly raising military assistance to their puppets”, he expressed, detailing that during the course of the war in Ukraine information has been leaked to the media major arms and equipment deliveries to kyiv.
Antonov accused the United States of giving “the green light to the use of US aid to attack crimea”, allegedly covering up crimes against the population of the regions of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia Y Kherson.
It transpired that the United States Government is considering the possibility of sending a significant amount of M1 Abrams tanks as part of an agreement with Germany so that unlock the delivery of your Leopard 2according to the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal.
After several weeks of pressure on Berlin by Western powers, the German chancellor, Olaf Schölzwould have agreed to supply these battle tanks to Ukraine, according to APD. However, for the moment there is no official confirmation from the German Executive.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has been insistently demanding from its partners the delivery of German Leopard tanks, which require prior authorization from Berlin, whose reluctance had shown a new disagreement between kyiv’s alliesespecially with regard to Poland and the Baltic countries, the most critical and belligerent with the suspicions of Germany.
The decision to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine could be announced this Wednesday, although delivery could take months or years. US authorities said the details are still being worked out.
An official assured that the tanks would be purchased in a forthcoming package under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiativewhich provides long-term financing to purchase weapons and equipment from private vendors.
The US announcement is expected to be made on Wednesday in coordination with Germany’s notification that it will approve Poland’s request to transfer its German war tanks. Leopard 2 to Ukraine, according to an official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been made public.
Weapons supplied through the assistance initiative can take anywhere from months to several years to reach the battlefield. Much of the aid sent so far in this 11-month war has been through a independent program who uses the pentagon reserves to get weapons to Ukraine more quickly. But even within the framework of that programit would take months to get the tanks to Ukraine and train Ukrainian forces in its management. It is not known how many tanks will be approved.
Until now, the United States has resisted supplying Ukraine with M1 Abrams tanks, citing the enormous logistical and maintenance problems posed by these high-tech vehicles.
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com